Mr. Ertel’s Teaching and Coaching Philosophy
Becoming a transformational leader requires that I am connected to my past experiences before I can manifest them outwardly. How we make sense of our lives ultimately defines how we live them. Through the InsideOut process, I took a journey into my past so that I may be able to have a life changing effect on my student-athletes. At the end of my life, I will not be remembered for my win/loss record, but rather for the positive impact I had on a student-athletes life.
The process of becoming a transformational leader is centered upon four questions: Why do I lead? Why do I lead the way I do? What does it feel like to be coached by me? How do I define and measure success? I realized the significance and value of these questions, as my beliefs will shape the outcome of my life. I have learned that people don’t care what you know, until they know that you care. As an aspiring transformational leader, I know I will become more effective in conveying the guidance that is necessary in the maturation of my student-athletes. Sowing the seeds of love with my student-athletes by appreciating that our bond is towards a common goal greater than ourselves lies at the center of my heart.
Why do I lead? I lead with the goal of developing future US National team student-athletes while modeling trust, love, and a commitment to excellence through lifelong personal relationships. Children need someone they believe in to affirm their potential. I lead by placing no limits on my student-athlete’s dreams and goals in soccer and in life. Placing the needs of individual student-athletes over the team and my coaching is crucial in developing successful student-athletes and young men. Possessing authentic relationships with student-athletes through the love of a common goal are important in instilling trust, love, and a commitment to excellence. “A team is defined by the quality of its relationships, and the commitment to its cause” (Ehrmann, 2011). I lead to teach and model healthy relationships, as the best teams always feel like families. Through the teaching of gratitude, trust, and love, I lead to build a team without walls where each student-athlete has the opportunity to express their unique and wonderful traits on and off the soccer field. I lead to teach the lesson of commitment to excellence. I lead to model that human qualities are cultivated through effort. Ultimately, I would like to teach every student-athlete that they have a right and responsibility to be the change they wish to see in the world.
Why do I lead the way I do? I know that spending many hours with the student-athletes I work with, that I have an enormous influence on their lives. I lead the way I do because I want every child, I lead to recognize their self-worth through acceptance, mentoring, and empathy. I lead the way I do because every child needs a confiding and trusting relationship in which they may be able to release from the judgment of others. The results of a competition are a consequence of why I lead the way I do, not the why itself. Centering my attention on each individual with the intentional belief that they are a valued member of their team, family, and community is a critical piece in why I lead the way I do. I teach through the understanding that valuing empathy allows me to see what my student-athletes are seeing. Through past experiences with coaches in my youth, I have understood that a winning at all cost’s mentality has a negative effect on the human development of student-athletes. I value effort, a growth mindset, and the understanding of the process of becoming a successful student-athlete and lifelong learner. Through my experiences and memories, I lead the way I do because life’s greatest rewards are reserved for the people who bring joy to the lives of others. Those rewards are ultimately how I measure and define my success as a lead.
What does it feel like to be coached by me? To answer this question, I need to understand what I value, which defines my character as a person and lead. The service to others as a leader is something, I have always taken pride in. This is ultimately the acts of empathy and kindness put into action. Doing something without the expectation of anything in return in the process of transforming someone’s life is part of my character as a lead. I know that young student-athletes are extremely impressionable. How you treat each student-athlete, the opponents, referees, parents, and the community shapes how my student-athletes will gauge the values I behold. You become what you behold. Through the modeling of my values, the student-athletes I lead view me as a positive role model, leader, and transformative teacher of soccer. The ability to be consistently self-aware of my own character will enable me to transform the lives of others. My ability to convey empathy, service to others, and the love which comes from working towards a common goal will be measured by what my student-athletes behold in the future.
How do I define and measure success? I believe that success is a process that requires patience and persistence to reach an ultimate pinnacle. “How you run the race is more important that winning the race” (Ehrmann, 2011). Success is not solely based on winning and losing. Setbacks, losses, and mistakes will also help you build success. John Woodens’ definition of success has captivated me. He beautifully articulated that “Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable” (Ehrmann, 2011). Each training session I lead with the intentionality that my student-athletes have learned something new and competed with their teammates to strive for personal excellence within a team environment. Through the teaching that competition means to strive together, my student-athletes will become successful through their tireless efforts in the pursuit of excellence and lifelong learning. Success can only be measured according to my purpose of why I lead. Success is measured by the content of someone’s character, their leadership, and impact on the world. “I am a transformational lead that has the position, power, and platform to make a positive difference in the lives of my student-athletes” (Ehrmann, 2011). Now all there is left to do is to go out and execute my vision to produce the next US Men’s National team student-athletes while developing young men who develop meaningful and authentic relationships in their life.
Children will learn based on how I lead them. Developing a linguistic intentionality, that each word I speak will carry significance in my student-athletes. I have learned that with each exchange that I have with a student-athlete, I am conveying acceptance or rejection with my verbal and non-verbal communication. Becoming mindful of my student-athletes subliminal messages will allow me to respond my instruction appropriately to meet the developmental needs of that individual. The two virtues of communication that Joe Ehrmann illustrates in his book are clarity and discipline (Ehrmann, 2011). Using words which encourage camaraderie are vital in the clarity of the message which a leader sends. Clear communication requires explicitly how we will treat, care, and stand by each other as teammates (Ehrmann, 2011). Clarity enhances and fortifies the roles within the team to act with love and intentionality towards each other. I don’t love student-athletes like family, siblings, or friends do. I love them because we are striving towards a common goal greater than ourselves. I love what we do together in a communal atmosphere to achieve this goal. The more clarifying my message is to student-athletes, the more acceptance and worth they will be able to glean to make a positive impact on their personal relationships.
I have realized that coaches and teachers in my past have been bullies, narcissists, and misfits trying to find a home in youth culture. They didn’t convey empathy, interest, and the kindness required to transform the lives of their student-athletes. “The most powerful teams are those in which every individual is allowed a voice, in which athletes can speak and share their unique perspectives, insights, gifts, and talents” (Ehrmann, 2011). This wasn’t allowed when I played youth sports or in school, as the only voice in the team and class was that of the leader. By harnessing certain words, I will be able to see how modeling linguistic intentionality affects my student-athletes. By refraining from swearing, racial slurs, and masculine clichés and stereotypes, I will be able to speak to my student-athletes with empathy, transforming their lives. By becoming aware of my triggers of past experiences, I will eliminate words which have hurt and affected me in a negative way. I have learned that critiquing my student-athletes is useless until I validate and affirm their worth. Modeling is the most important part of coaching, says Ehrmann. The message in which I send must be clear, purposeful, and interpreted the way it was delivered. That is the cornerstone of disciplined communication.
Through the InsideOut process of becoming a transformational leader, I have rekindled memories of how my previous coaches have viewed competition. I have since realized that these coaches have simply attempted to validate their personal insecurities by projecting a feeling of superiority over others. These experiences have reaffirmed my belief that competition is a mutual quest towards excellence. Through modeling losing with honor, and winning with humility, student-athletes will be able to understand that I am not driven by superiority over others, but rather the conquest to become a transformative lead who develops the future of elite soccer student-athletes in the United States. Competition isn’t about winning or perfection. “The person you become in the pursuit of excellence is worth far more than the apparent achievement of success” (Ehrmann, 2011). Through a virtuous view of competition, I will measure success on my student-athlete’s growth, not our win-loss record.
The gap between who I thought I was, and what I am truly capable of is astounding. Through becoming a transformational leader, I have placed the needs of my student-athletes before the needs of myself and the team. Communicating with clarity and discipline will illuminate my message to bestow a nurturing environment with my student-athletes. The InsideOut process has shown me how I make sense of the things in my life, and how it relates in the development of the athletes in which I lead. A sport doesn’t build character, my intentional teaching shapes and molds it. Student-athletes teach and challenge me on a daily basis. If I listen to their words and observe their actions, they will inherently show me how to love them.
Becoming a transformational leader requires that I am connected to my past experiences before I can manifest them outwardly. How we make sense of our lives ultimately defines how we live them. Through the InsideOut process, I took a journey into my past so that I may be able to have a life changing effect on my student-athletes. At the end of my life, I will not be remembered for my win/loss record, but rather for the positive impact I had on a student-athletes life.
The process of becoming a transformational leader is centered upon four questions: Why do I lead? Why do I lead the way I do? What does it feel like to be coached by me? How do I define and measure success? I realized the significance and value of these questions, as my beliefs will shape the outcome of my life. I have learned that people don’t care what you know, until they know that you care. As an aspiring transformational leader, I know I will become more effective in conveying the guidance that is necessary in the maturation of my student-athletes. Sowing the seeds of love with my student-athletes by appreciating that our bond is towards a common goal greater than ourselves lies at the center of my heart.
Why do I lead? I lead with the goal of developing future US National team student-athletes while modeling trust, love, and a commitment to excellence through lifelong personal relationships. Children need someone they believe in to affirm their potential. I lead by placing no limits on my student-athlete’s dreams and goals in soccer and in life. Placing the needs of individual student-athletes over the team and my coaching is crucial in developing successful student-athletes and young men. Possessing authentic relationships with student-athletes through the love of a common goal are important in instilling trust, love, and a commitment to excellence. “A team is defined by the quality of its relationships, and the commitment to its cause” (Ehrmann, 2011). I lead to teach and model healthy relationships, as the best teams always feel like families. Through the teaching of gratitude, trust, and love, I lead to build a team without walls where each student-athlete has the opportunity to express their unique and wonderful traits on and off the soccer field. I lead to teach the lesson of commitment to excellence. I lead to model that human qualities are cultivated through effort. Ultimately, I would like to teach every student-athlete that they have a right and responsibility to be the change they wish to see in the world.
Why do I lead the way I do? I know that spending many hours with the student-athletes I work with, that I have an enormous influence on their lives. I lead the way I do because I want every child, I lead to recognize their self-worth through acceptance, mentoring, and empathy. I lead the way I do because every child needs a confiding and trusting relationship in which they may be able to release from the judgment of others. The results of a competition are a consequence of why I lead the way I do, not the why itself. Centering my attention on each individual with the intentional belief that they are a valued member of their team, family, and community is a critical piece in why I lead the way I do. I teach through the understanding that valuing empathy allows me to see what my student-athletes are seeing. Through past experiences with coaches in my youth, I have understood that a winning at all cost’s mentality has a negative effect on the human development of student-athletes. I value effort, a growth mindset, and the understanding of the process of becoming a successful student-athlete and lifelong learner. Through my experiences and memories, I lead the way I do because life’s greatest rewards are reserved for the people who bring joy to the lives of others. Those rewards are ultimately how I measure and define my success as a lead.
What does it feel like to be coached by me? To answer this question, I need to understand what I value, which defines my character as a person and lead. The service to others as a leader is something, I have always taken pride in. This is ultimately the acts of empathy and kindness put into action. Doing something without the expectation of anything in return in the process of transforming someone’s life is part of my character as a lead. I know that young student-athletes are extremely impressionable. How you treat each student-athlete, the opponents, referees, parents, and the community shapes how my student-athletes will gauge the values I behold. You become what you behold. Through the modeling of my values, the student-athletes I lead view me as a positive role model, leader, and transformative teacher of soccer. The ability to be consistently self-aware of my own character will enable me to transform the lives of others. My ability to convey empathy, service to others, and the love which comes from working towards a common goal will be measured by what my student-athletes behold in the future.
How do I define and measure success? I believe that success is a process that requires patience and persistence to reach an ultimate pinnacle. “How you run the race is more important that winning the race” (Ehrmann, 2011). Success is not solely based on winning and losing. Setbacks, losses, and mistakes will also help you build success. John Woodens’ definition of success has captivated me. He beautifully articulated that “Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable” (Ehrmann, 2011). Each training session I lead with the intentionality that my student-athletes have learned something new and competed with their teammates to strive for personal excellence within a team environment. Through the teaching that competition means to strive together, my student-athletes will become successful through their tireless efforts in the pursuit of excellence and lifelong learning. Success can only be measured according to my purpose of why I lead. Success is measured by the content of someone’s character, their leadership, and impact on the world. “I am a transformational lead that has the position, power, and platform to make a positive difference in the lives of my student-athletes” (Ehrmann, 2011). Now all there is left to do is to go out and execute my vision to produce the next US Men’s National team student-athletes while developing young men who develop meaningful and authentic relationships in their life.
Children will learn based on how I lead them. Developing a linguistic intentionality, that each word I speak will carry significance in my student-athletes. I have learned that with each exchange that I have with a student-athlete, I am conveying acceptance or rejection with my verbal and non-verbal communication. Becoming mindful of my student-athletes subliminal messages will allow me to respond my instruction appropriately to meet the developmental needs of that individual. The two virtues of communication that Joe Ehrmann illustrates in his book are clarity and discipline (Ehrmann, 2011). Using words which encourage camaraderie are vital in the clarity of the message which a leader sends. Clear communication requires explicitly how we will treat, care, and stand by each other as teammates (Ehrmann, 2011). Clarity enhances and fortifies the roles within the team to act with love and intentionality towards each other. I don’t love student-athletes like family, siblings, or friends do. I love them because we are striving towards a common goal greater than ourselves. I love what we do together in a communal atmosphere to achieve this goal. The more clarifying my message is to student-athletes, the more acceptance and worth they will be able to glean to make a positive impact on their personal relationships.
I have realized that coaches and teachers in my past have been bullies, narcissists, and misfits trying to find a home in youth culture. They didn’t convey empathy, interest, and the kindness required to transform the lives of their student-athletes. “The most powerful teams are those in which every individual is allowed a voice, in which athletes can speak and share their unique perspectives, insights, gifts, and talents” (Ehrmann, 2011). This wasn’t allowed when I played youth sports or in school, as the only voice in the team and class was that of the leader. By harnessing certain words, I will be able to see how modeling linguistic intentionality affects my student-athletes. By refraining from swearing, racial slurs, and masculine clichés and stereotypes, I will be able to speak to my student-athletes with empathy, transforming their lives. By becoming aware of my triggers of past experiences, I will eliminate words which have hurt and affected me in a negative way. I have learned that critiquing my student-athletes is useless until I validate and affirm their worth. Modeling is the most important part of coaching, says Ehrmann. The message in which I send must be clear, purposeful, and interpreted the way it was delivered. That is the cornerstone of disciplined communication.
Through the InsideOut process of becoming a transformational leader, I have rekindled memories of how my previous coaches have viewed competition. I have since realized that these coaches have simply attempted to validate their personal insecurities by projecting a feeling of superiority over others. These experiences have reaffirmed my belief that competition is a mutual quest towards excellence. Through modeling losing with honor, and winning with humility, student-athletes will be able to understand that I am not driven by superiority over others, but rather the conquest to become a transformative lead who develops the future of elite soccer student-athletes in the United States. Competition isn’t about winning or perfection. “The person you become in the pursuit of excellence is worth far more than the apparent achievement of success” (Ehrmann, 2011). Through a virtuous view of competition, I will measure success on my student-athlete’s growth, not our win-loss record.
The gap between who I thought I was, and what I am truly capable of is astounding. Through becoming a transformational leader, I have placed the needs of my student-athletes before the needs of myself and the team. Communicating with clarity and discipline will illuminate my message to bestow a nurturing environment with my student-athletes. The InsideOut process has shown me how I make sense of the things in my life, and how it relates in the development of the athletes in which I lead. A sport doesn’t build character, my intentional teaching shapes and molds it. Student-athletes teach and challenge me on a daily basis. If I listen to their words and observe their actions, they will inherently show me how to love them.